Descent Into Hell
by WickedGame
Summary: When Kikyo comes to take Inuyasha to Hell he honors his word and goes. But there's someone down below who wants to remind him of what he would be giving up, and who wants to remind him that it is not his time.


Title: Descent Into Hell

Author: WickedGame

Archive: FFnet, Mediaminerorg, anyone else just ask.

Category: Drama, spiritual.

Warnings: Foul language

Spoilers: None really if you have seen the majority of the series.

Notes: This will be my last Inuyasha fiction for some time. I have a few more plot bunnies floating around, but no muses to guide them. Beta-ed by FantasyOrReality. I make no apologies for making the God of Death in this story look like my favorite incarnation of Shinigami (aka Duo Maxwell).

Inuyasha woke with a start. He looked around, his enhanced eyesight gazing into the night easily. His ears heard nothing unusual, but his nose told a different story. He could smell her, and feel the slight aura of her snake-like soul stealers.

"Kikyo," he whispered as lowly as possible. She was near, near enough to catch.

Inuyasha made little to no sound as he left the others by the campfire. Time to find out exactly what Kikyo was up to now.

&&&

Inuyasha could see the silvery glow of the soul stealers from his perch in the large tree. Kikyo was standing in a small clearing, waiting for something or someone.

"Inuyasha, come down," Kikyo said in her sad tone. Inuyasha jumped, landing easily not five feet from the woman he had once loved more than anything.

"The jewel is complete, correct?" Kikyo asked as if she were asking about the weather.

"Yeah, so?" Inuyasha was tired of hearing about the jewel. After two years of searching and fighting, they had finally beaten Naraku and completed the jewel a couple of months prior. They still spent every day trying to think of a wish worthy of purifying the jewel, which was why Kagome still had not gone home. She was still with them, and sleeping peacefully back at their campsite.

"We have business to conclude Inuyasha. Now that the jewel is finished, I am ready to move on. This means finally going to Hell, and you will be coming with me just as you promised. Now, tonight," Kikyo looked melancholy as always.

"You mean to tell me that we're going to Hell? Don't I even get to say goodbye?" Inuyasha asked, feeling not only disbelief but also feeling a great sorrow.

"Don't you think it will be better for them to not have to say goodbye to you? Especially for Kagome; the silly girl is in love with you. Do you really want to have to subject her to a goodbye? No, leaving now is best Inuyasha. You know I am right. You don't want your friends to hate you, correct?" Kikyo even sounded a little bitter when she said this.

"Kikyo, I'm not in love with you anymore," Inuyasha said sadly, hoping to sway her opinion.

"Just the same, you told me you would do anything for me. I want you to die with me," Kikyo insisted.

"If that's the way you want it. But know this: when we get to wherever we are going, I don't ever want to see you again," Inuyasha knew he could not go back on his word. Honor was one of the only things he had always thought he had. He was not going to let that go now.

Kikyo only nodded, and then moved about the clearing. She used some sand from a pot to draw a line on the ground. She sprinkled some water over the sand, and then placed her hands over in. Soon the ground began to shake slightly, and then the air started to glow a bright blue, like the sea.

"I thought Hell would be all red," Inuyasha said flippantly.

"This is only a portal," Kikyo held out her hand, "Come Inuyasha."

Kikyo's body went through first, with Inuyasha following. There was a flash of blue, and then he lost Kikyo's hand. The light grew incandescently white, and Inuyasha slammed his eyes closed before he was blinded. He felt himself falling, and then everything went black.

&&&

"Hey there, you awake yet?"

A soft tenor voice spoke to Inuyasha. He opened his eyes and found himself in what looked to be a cave. He was lying on a bed, and he still felt remarkably alive.

"There you are. I am glad you are awake," Inuyasha turned his head, and saw that a teenage boy was sitting not far from him on a stool. The boy was dressed all in black, with a black cape that flowed gently over his back. His boots were hooked into the rungs of the stool, and he looked very casual. His hair was long and braided, and his eyes were a shade of blue so divine they looked almost purple.

"You don't look Japanese," was the first thing Inuyasha could think to say.

"I'm not really anything," the boy said with a shrug. He hopped down from the stool and walked over to the bed Inuyasha was now sitting on. He bowed to Inuyasha, "I am Shinigami, at your service."

"You expect me to believe that you're the God of Death? No way," Inuyasha was disbelieving that this youth was the boss around Hell.

"Look buddy, this is as good an appearance as any to show you around. I usually do not take much of a form. It's usually not needed, you see? But you, Inuyasha… You are a special case. I needed to take some kind of form to see if I could talk you out of this ridiculous stunt," Shinigami grinned as he stood there, and watched Inuyasha start to splutter indignantly.

"What the hell are you talking about? Ridiculous stunt? What do you mean ridiculous stunt?" Inuyasha shook his fist at Shinigami and then dropped it when he saw the teasing look on the deity's face.

"Let's take a walk, Inuyasha," Shinigami turned and started to walk away, not even stopping to wait for the half-demon.

"Hey, wait up!" Inuyasha called out, walking down the dark hallways after the braided Shinigami.

&&&

They finally stopped after some time in a round room. The walls were stone, and in the middle there was a small stone pool.

"A reflecting pool," Shinigami pointed at the clear water.

"What's it for?" Inuyasha asked.

"It's time I tell you why you are here with me instead of with Kikyo," Shinigami sat on the ground, and Inuyasha joined him.

"Yeah, I was kind of wondering that myself," Inuyasha folded his arms into his fire rat haori and waited for the explanations.

"You are a special case, Inuyasha. On Earth you were a special case, and down here, it is no different. But the difference would be that you just are not supposed to be here," Shinigami told him.

"Do you mean that it was not my time to die? I know that. But I made a promise to Kikyo," Inuyasha sighed with the feeling of confusion that continued to stay with him.

"She is not the same Kikyo you knew, Inuyasha. Bones and graveyard soil do not the original Kikyo make. Especially when the majority of your Kikyo's soul resides in someone you are even closer to in the now," Shinigami gestured to the pool. The surface rippled and changed, until Kagome's sleeping reflection was showing in the water.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

"The one and the same. You know of course that she is Kikyo's reincarnation. Right now she is sleeping soundly, and maybe even dreaming. Want to see what will happen when she wakes up and you're not there?" Shinigami looked speculatively at Inuyasha and waited for an answer.

"Are you telling me that you can see the future?" Inuyasha asked, truly curious.

"No, I can't. Not really. But I have been watching, and I can show you a what-might-happen-kind-of-situation," Shinigami waved a hand towards the water, and the scene began to shift.

"See? She's calling your name. She looks confused, and maybe a little scared. See, she's been afraid of you leaving for some time, and she has no idea how to ask you to stay. The others are also worried. Want to see a little time progression?" the deity waved his hand again. This time Inuyasha's friends were in a hut. He supposed they were at Kaede's village. The place really had become home to them over the years.

"She's crying Inuyasha. You have been missing for a week. They have never gone so long without seeing you. Kaede also knows that Kikyo has finally gone, and she suspects that you are with her. She is afraid to tell Kagome. Kagome has stopped eating almost entirely. Shippo has been searching the forest for you too. Sango and Miroku take Kirara out daily to try and find some sign of you. Kaede has told them what she fears to tell Kagome. How about a little more time progression?" the violet-eyed boy waved his hand again, and now the scene was showing the Goshinboku. Kagome was alone.

"Need some audio?" Shinigami snapped, and Inuyasha could hear the sounds of the forest and of Kagome's sobbing.

_"Inuyasha, Kaede told me where you have gone. You chose Kikyo, and went with her to Hell, just like you always said you would. I guess I thought some things had changed. I guess I thought that you had grown to love me as much as you once loved her. You never said anything, never did anything, but still I thought that I caught the look in your eyes, or the smile you gave just for me. I found you here so long ago now it seems. Now even the spot where I found you has been covered with vines. It's as if you didn't even exist. I know in my heart you did though. The others tell me that I need to move on, so I am. I am going back to my time, and I won't be coming back. I have already said my goodbyes to everyone else, and now I am saying goodbye to you. I love you. I won't ever forget you, even though you seem to have forgotten totally about me. But I hope wherever you are that you are happy, Inuyasha."_

"See? Now, would you really want to throw that all away? That girl loves you, Inuyasha. You, just as you are. She doesn't want to change one thing about you. She said she loved you as a half-demon, and she meant it. Kikyo wanted you to change. Kikyo wanted something from you. She wanted to humanize you, make you more like her. This Kagome though, she's special. She likes the demon half of you as well as your human side. Love like that is special. And now, when it is not your time, you want to leave that behind? Leave Kagome, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Kaede behind? These people all love you, although all in different ways: Kagome as a lover; Shippo as an older brother; Sango as a colleague and friend; Miroku as a younger brother and friend; Kirara as a fellow demon and a fighter; and Kaede as a surrogate son. What's wrong Inuyasha? Why would you come here when you so evidently belong with them?" Shinigami rose from his sitting position and went to lean against the wall.

"Kikyo was the first human who ever treated me with any kind of respect. It's true she did want more of me than I may have been willing to give. But our relationship was destroyed by Naraku, and she was killed. I only fell into a deep sleep against that damned tree. I would've stayed there, if not for Kagome," Inuyasha looked down at the stones in front of him, and then back at the now clear water, "I guess you could almost say that I feel a little guilt. Kikyo died that day, and maybe I should have died too."

"But you didn't. Fate and Kikyo's arrow left you there, knowing that the soul that once belonged to Kikyo would find its way back to you. Some people were just meant to be together, Inuyasha," Shinigami gave him a rueful grin, "I guess you could say that you and Kagome are soul mates."

"Soul mates. How can you be soul mates when one of you will die in a certain number of years? Kagome deserves to go back, and she deserves to get to live out the rest of her life being happy with someone who can grow old and gray just like she will," Inuyasha hated the sound of his voice. It just reeked of weakness.

"But Inuyasha, that's not your choice," Shinigami said the words very softly. Inuyasha looked up at him, desperation and frustration showing.

"It takes two to want a relationship," Inuyasha reminded him.

"You love that girl, and you know it. You have loved her since you first saw her, and that feeling has never changed. Something resonated in you from the start. But," Shinigami pushed away from the wall, "none of that matters."

"Why not?" Inuyasha asked.

"I run the show around here. Kikyo was allowed to pass because she is already dead. You however, you are not supposed to be here. So, I am exercising my oh-so-great power of divinitishipness and I am sending you back. Next time, look before you leap. I suggest you go back and take that girl in your arms and let her know how much you appreciate having her around," Inuyasha only saw the braided God of Death smirk before everything went white.

&&&

It was as if he had never left. It was still dark, and everything was still silent. Inuyasha was standing by the doused campfire, and he felt as if a door had been opened for him that had been locked before. He inched over to the sleeping Kagome, and squatted down next to her.

"Thanks Kagome," Inuyasha whispered before moving back to his own blankets and going back to sleep.

-The End-


End file.
